Golf Putter with Animal Bone Insert

ABSTRACT

The disclosure provides a putter head including a striking face formed of animal bone. In an example, an outer striking surface can be made of animal bone, wherein the outer striking surface is adhered to the striking face of the putter head. In an example, the striking face includes a central cavity and an insert, wherein the insert is formed of animal bone.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/891,842 filed Feb. 8, 2018, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/456,648 filed Feb. 8, 2017, both of whichare incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter relates generally to a golf club that uses ananimal bone insert in a contact surface. More specifically, the presentinvention relates to a golf putter with animal bone insert on the ballstriking face of the club.

Golf clubs are designed for use in hitting golf balls in a variety ofways, all of which require an appropriate applicable force and accuracyin order to most expeditiously propel the golf ball toward a designatedtarget. Various golf clubs are used to provide various propellingfunctions. The initially used driver is designed for use in providingmaximum lofted propulsion over a large distance (usually measured inhundreds of yards). Putters, used in the final approach to the hole, areat the opposite end of the golf spectrum wherein distance is subservientto extreme accuracy in causing the ball to be propelled across theground and into the hole or cup. The art of putting has eludedperfection by even the most ardent and talented golfers. Yet, the numberof putts required to sink the ball often represents as much as half ofthe golfer's total score. Since a golfer is limited to a single putterover an entire round of play, the nature of the putter is important inpermitting a golfer to play the best possible game.

Putting requires a high degree of skill and accuracy in which a properlydesigned club can enhance a player's natural and learned abilities.Numerous factors, which often involve tradeoffs, are taken into accountin the design of a club head for a putter and which relate to theputter's action during the swing and upon impact with the ball. Thesefactors include moment of inertia, lateral dispersion, weight, club headmaterial, shape of the striking face, shaft alignment, sighting meansand face balance. Such factors relate to the rotational stability of theclub during the swing, the maximum energy transfer from the club toball, the balance, the resistance to twisting upon impact with the ball,even if hit off center, and the ability of the club to impart themaximal rotational energy on the golf ball to produce a natural rollingmotion from point of impact.

Many golfers learn to “feel” their putters. The point of contact betweenthe ball and the putter face being of critical importance to this feel.A golfer's score benefits greatly from good putting and good puttingdepends in large part on the golfer's comfort and confidence in his orher putter, much of which is based on whether the putter feels like anatural extension of the golfer's body. It may be beneficial, therefore,to provide a putter that feels like a natural and organic part of theputting stroke.

Accordingly, there is a need for a golf putter that uses a natural andorganic material, such as animal bone insert, as described herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To meet the needs described above and others, the present disclosureprovides a golf putter with animal bone insert on the ball striking faceof the club.

In one embodiment, the present invention comprises an insert member ofanimal bone for a golf putter, with one face of the insert being adaptedto fittingly engage the striking face of a head of the golf putter bymeans of adhesive, mechanical fasteners, or other fastening means,including by frictional fit, when the insert is fitted within a cutouton the face of the putter. The other face of the insert, which isthereby situated in a putting position for engagement with a golf ball,comprises a regular, planar surface. The planar surface islongitudinally positioned in alignment with a longitudinal axis of theputter head and is preferably of a dimension and position for puttingengagement with a golf ball.

In a primary example, a putter head includes: a striking face formedfrom a first material, the striking face including a central cavity; andan insert formed from a second material that is different from the firstmaterial, wherein the second material comprises animal bone, the insertincluding a front face and a back face, the back face fittingly engagedwithin the central cavity to align the front face with the striking facesurrounding the central cavity thereby establishing a continuous surfacealong the striking face.

In an example, the putter head includes a striking face including acentral cavity and an outer striking surface; and an insert includinganimal bone, the insert including a front face and a back face, the backface fittingly engaged within the central cavity, wherein the front faceof the insert forms the outer striking surface.

In an example, the putter head includes a striking face including anouter striking surface, wherein the outer striking surface includesanimal bone. In other words, the putter head may not include the cavityand/or insert, but instead include an outer striking surface made ofanimal bone. In an example, the outer striking surface can be adhered tothe striking face.

The animal bone may be any natural bone, such as cow bone, alligatorbone, camel bone, etc.

The insert may be secured within the central cavity by an adhesive, byone or more mechanical fasteners, or other fastening mechanism.

In some examples, the insert has a depth between 1/64 of an inch to ⅛ ofan inch.

In some examples, the insert has a density between 2.1 g/cm3 to 2.2g/cm3.

In other examples, the insert has a density between 2.0 g/cm3 to 2.2g/cm3.

In further examples, the insert comprises two or more animal bonestiled, bonded, or otherwise linked together to form a bone insert.

In another example, a putter head includes: a striking face formed froma first material, the striking face including a central cavity; and aninsert formed from a second material comprising animal bone, the insertincluding a front face and a back face, the back face adhered within thecentral cavity to align the front face with the striking facesurrounding the central cavity thereby establishing a continuous surfacealong the striking face; wherein the insert has a depth between 1/64 ofan inch to ⅛ of an inch and a density between 2.0 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a putter withtraditional aesthetics, but with improved ball striking capability.Animal bone is readily available and typically discarded afterbutchering animals, etc. Bone is all natural, organic, and whenprocessed appropriately, provides a smooth and resilient ball strikingface.

An advantage of utilizing animal bone is that every vertebrate in theworld has bones. Upon expiration, typically these bones are left todecompose or ground up for use as bone meal, etc. The present inventionenables recycling of an organic compound which prevents the need toproduce costly metal alloys, carbon fiber, etc. while still offering acustomizable putting face thanks to vertebrates varying bone density.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples willbe set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings or may be learned byproduction or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages ofthe concepts may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies,instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a putter head including an animal boneinsert on the ball striking face of the club.

FIG. 2 is across-sectional side view of the putter head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is a front view of an animal bone insert.

FIG. 3B is a side vide of an animal bone insert.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of bone density among various animals.

FIG. 5 is an example of a putter head including an outer strikingsurface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a putter 10 including an insert 100comprising animal bone. As shown in FIG. 1, the insert 100 is positionedwithin in a central cavity 210 in a striking face 220 of the putter head200 such that the insert 100 spans the “sweet spot” of the striking face220 (defined as the area of the putter head 200 designed to contact theball with a balanced swing). Alternatively, the insert 100 can extendover the entirety of the striking face 220. In other words, the frontface of the insert 100 can form the entire area of the outer surface ofthe striking face 22 (i.e., not just the “sweet spot”).

Also shown in FIG. 1, the putter 10 includes a shaft 50 which connectsto putter head 200 through a hose) 240, which acts as the attachmentpoint between putting head 200 and shaft 50.

The striking face 220 of the putter head 200 may be formed from amaterial that is different from or the same as the insert 100. Forexample, the striking face 220 may be formed from, for example,stainless steel, titanium, composites, etc. Alternatively, or inaddition to, the insert 100 and the striking face 220 can be made ofanimal bone.

In an example, the entire outer surface of the striking face 200 can bemade of animal bone. For example, the putter 10 may not include aninsert 100, but instead the entire outer surface of the striking face200 (i.e., outer striking surface) can be made of animal bone. In anexample, the putter 10 can include an outer striking surface 300 thatcan be adhered to the striking face 200, wherein the outer strikingsurface 300 is made of animal bone, as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the putter head 200 includingan insert 100 comprising animal bone. As shown in FIG. 2, the insert 100is fittingly engaged within the central cavity 210 to provide a uniform,smooth plane along the striking face 220. The insert 100 may be securedwithin the cavity 210 of the putter head 200 preferably by means of highstrength epoxy. When attaching by epoxy, the epoxy mixture may be placedin the cavity 210 of the putter head 200 and on a corresponding surfaceof the bone insert 100. The longitudinal axis of the insert 100 isaligned with the longitudinal axis of putter head 200 prior to adhesion.Alternatively, the insert 100 may be attached by bolts, screws, integrallatches or another method of secure and lasting attachment.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the putter head 200 includes an insert100 formed from animal bone. This insert 100 is located within thecavity 210 which was milled into the striking face 220 of the putter 10.In one non-limiting example, the depth of the milled cavity 210 may bebetween 1/64-⅛ of an inch in depth. As shown, when within the cavity210, the outer face of the animal bone insert 100 sits flush with theface 220 of the putting head 200 to provide a continuously smooth,uniform striking face 200. In an example, the animal bone insert 100 canextend over the entire face 220 of the putting head 200. In other words,the front face of the insert can form the outer surface of the strikingsurface (i.e., outer striking surface of the striking face).

FIG. 3A is a front view of an animal bone insert 100. As shown in FIG.3A, the animal bone insert 100 may be trapezoidal in shape with thebottom portion of the insert 100 having a greater width then the top.Any other geometric shape may be utilized for a bone insert 100 (i.e.,oval, square, rectangle, etc.) with the shape of the insert 100 beingmirrored by the cavity 210.

FIG. 3B is a side view of an animal bone insert 100. As shown in FIG.3B, the animal bone insert 100 may have a smaller depth than width (seeFIG. 3A) which gives it a wide profile for striking the ball but shallowdepth profile. This shallow depth reduces the size of the cavity 210that must be milled or otherwise created for the insert 100. As noted inFIG. 2, the depth of the insert 100 should match with the cavity 210 sothat when set within the striking face 220 the outward face of theinsert 100 is flush with the rest of the striking face 220.

Depending on user preference, the insert 100 can be concave, convex, orflat relative to the rest of the striking face 220 depending onfunctional advantage or user preference.

An advantage of utilizing animal bone is the ability to tune thestriking characteristics of the putter 10 using natural materials. Everygolfer has their own preference about the feel of the putter they preferto use. Some enjoy a putter that provides a lot of “spring” off thestriking face 220 while others prefer a less reactive, deadening effectfrom their putter 10. In some putters 10, these effects are achieved bythe use of different metals, alloys, and polymers in the striking face220. For organically produced materials, wood had been a common choicefor golf clubs in the past. However, this material is not durable nor isit sought out for putting due to irregularities in the density of woodwhich leads to inconsistent striking properties.

Animal bone offers an organic material which is typically uniform indensity (throughout a single bone) and without the irregularities seenin wood (e.g., no grain pattern, knots, etc.). Further, generallyspeaking, each type of animal has a different bone density. For example,mice and other small mammals have lower bone density (0.003 g/cm2 formice), while larger types of bovine (2.1 g/cm2 for cows) have higherbone density. For example, elephants have amongst the densest animalbones. Each bone density provides a different coefficient of restitutionwhen striking a ball and thus a different putting experience to the enduser. Users can determine what type of bone insert 100 they enjoy usingand get a good deal of enjoyment out of what otherwise might have beenan unused waste material.

Bone density is proportional to bone stiffness and strength (yieldstress). Dense bone is stiffer and stronger than less-dense bone, but itis also heavier. The overall shape of a bone affects its stiffness (butnot necessarily its strength). Therefore, if an end user wanted adurable insert 100 the user may opt for a cow bone insert 100.Conversely, if a user instead wants a lighter putter 10, the user mayopt for an insert 100 formed from mouse bone, etc.

In an example, the animal bone can include camel bone. In an example,the animal bone may be made from a cow's femur. Adult cow (Bos Taurus)femurs vary in size but are typically 14 to 18 inches long and 4 to 6inches wide. The size of such a bone provides plenty of material tocreate a striking face of an animal bone for those who want a denseanimal bone insert 100 (cow bone density averages between 2.1-2.2g/cm3).

In another embodiment, the bone of an exotic animal species may beutilized to create the animal bone insert 100, striking face 220, and/orouter striking surface 300. The American alligator (AlligatorMississippiensis) is a common nuisance on golf courses in the southernUnited States and thus there may be an appeal to consumers to use aputter 10 featuring alligator bone insert 100. Adult alligator femurs,while smaller than those of a cow, are still typically between 5 to 7inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide. This provide sufficient material tocreate an animal bone insert 100.

The skeletons of birds (and other flying vertebrates) need to belightweight to minimize the metabolic cost of flight, and at the sametime strong enough to withstand the forces encountered during flight. Itmay be surprising to learn that birds (and bats) actually have boneswhich are quite dense (2.0-2.2 g/cm3), heavy, and durable. However, thesize of the femur bone of a sparrow (Plocepasser mahali) is around 0.78inches long and 0.2 inches wide. Such small bones may be tiled, bonded,or otherwise linked together to form a bone insert 100 to provide yetanother option for golfers.

It should be noted that some embodiments of the presently disclosedanimal bone insert 100 will be constructed from pure, unadulteratedanimal bone. The animal bone insert 100 in these embodiments willcontain no polymers, plastics, or rubbers; nor any organic fillercompounds such as collagen.

It should be noted that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention andwithout diminishing its attendant advantages.

We claim:
 1. A putter head comprising: a striking face including a central cavity and an outer striking surface; and an insert including animal bone, the insert including a front face and a back face, the back face fittingly engaged within the central cavity, wherein the front face of the insert forms the outer striking surface.
 2. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the animal bone is camel bone.
 3. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the animal bone is cow bone.
 4. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert is secured within the central cavity by an adhesive.
 5. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert is secured within the central cavity by one or more mechanical fasteners.
 6. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert has a depth between 1/64 of an inch to ⅛ of an inch.
 7. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert has a density between 2.1 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.
 8. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert has a density between 2.0 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.
 9. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the insert comprises two or more animal bones.
 10. The putter head of claim 1, wherein the front face of the insert forms the entire outer striking surface.
 11. A putter head comprising: a putter head including a striking face; and an outer striking surface, wherein the outer striking surface includes animal bone.
 12. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the animal bone is cow bone.
 13. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the animal bone is camel bone.
 14. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface has a depth between 1/64 of an inch to ⅛ of an inch.
 15. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface has a density between 2.1 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.
 16. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface has a density between 2.0 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.
 17. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface comprises two or more animal bones.
 18. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface covers the entire striking face of the putter head.
 19. The putter head of claim 11, wherein the outer striking surface is adhered to the striking face of the putter head. 